A parish council has wasted £14,000 of taxpayers' money after barricading a retired couple in their own back garden with a 6ft fence, blocking their route to a public park.

Village hall officials erected the wooden barricade in front of the Pearse's garden gate, blocking their access to a nearby piece of public land.

But the authority was forced to tear down the wooden fence after losing a three-year legal battle, branded a 'tragic waste of public money' by Mr Pearse.

When the couple replaced an old hedge with a fence and gate three years ago, Queen Thorne Parish Council argued the couple had no right to an easement - a right of passage.

Michael and Lesley Pearse were forced to take legal action after their local parish council erected a fence in front of their garden gate

Queen Thorne Parish Council in Dorset were forced to remove the fence after the three-year legal battle was settled on the eve of the matter going to court. The Pearses can now access the public park, as they had done for 16 years before the saga began three years ago

But the couple insisted the right of way was written into the deeds of their five-bedroom property, which they bought for £400,000 in 1993.

The Dorset council refused to remove the obstruction forcing the Pearses to take legal action.

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The ensuing three-year battle has cost the council £14,121 in taxpayers' money - nearly twice the authority's annual budget.

The matter was finally settled in favour of the couple on the eve of the case going to court.

The 6ft by 7ft wooden fence has been removed from the bottom of the Pearse’s garden, giving the couple their access back.

The three-year dispute has cost the parish council £14,000 of taxpayers' money, nearly twice its annual budget

Mr Pearse, a 65-year-old retired management consultant, revealed the outcome of the squabble in a message enclosed in Christmas cards sent to his family and friends.

He said: 'We are delighted to confirm that Queen Thorne Parish Council have, after imposing nearly three years of painful struggle on us, removed their barricade and returned us to the position we enjoyed before they took their unexplained action.

'In total, they have spent £14,121 on legal fees trying to justify and defend their actions and this would seem to be a tragic waste of public funds especially when realising that the status quo is restored and we are returned to the position we enjoyed before they erected their barricade.

'We believe we are all entitled to ask the parish council why they spent an enormous sum of public money on a pointless exercise and why our annual precept has risen from £8,000 to £20,446 over a two year period, a rise of 256 per cent at a time when the total precept of all the parishes in West Dorset has risen by just 2.7 per cent.'

The saga began in 2011 when Mr Pearse, from Nether Compton, near Sherborne, set about replacing a scruffy hedge and gate with a new wooden fence and entrance.

The boundary backs on to a public park with a play area that the couple’s grandchildren enjoyed when they visit.

He wrote out of courtesy to the parish council to let them know what he was doing, prompting them to order him to close the access point altogether.

The couple had used their access to the park for years, since buying their five-bedroom home in Dorset in 1993. Mr Pearse said: 'This would seem to be a tragic waste of public funds especially when realising that the status quo is restored and we are returned to the position we enjoyed before they erected their barricade'

They then sent two workmen to erect the barricade which has prevented the Pearses from using the gate.

Mr Pearse said: 'We replaced a hedge and field gate with a fence and a small pedestrian gate.

'For some unexplained reason, the council told us we could not have a gate.

'As long ago as July 19, 2012, they wrote to us and admitted we have an easement, that it is still in operation and that it is accessed across our boundary.

'Sadly, they refused to include this unambiguous acceptance in a settlement, instead insisted the easement, explicitly identified in our conveyance, was in their gift.

'The case was prolonged as a result of the council’s refusal to recognise in a settlement the easement granted in the 1968 conveyance.'

Roger Dodd, vice chairman of Queen Thorne Parish Council, insisted the officials had acted in the best interests of the parish.

He said: 'We are pleased a satisfactory agreement has been reached in relation to the dispute.

'The gateway was erected in a provocative manner and after that negotiations between the two parties failed.

'We never brought the case but having been placed in a difficult position the parish council is pleased to be able to draw a line under the matter without added expense.'

Despite physical, photographic and documented evidence to the contrary, Mr Dodd insisted that no barricade had been put up by the council.